Stop mechanism for mine-hoists.



D. F. LEPLEY. STOP MECHANISM FOR MINE HOISTS.

APPLICA'HON FILED 0503,1914.

4 SHEETS-SHEET I.

TM" "a inverr'cor.

Witnesses Paten'md W). 13, 1.917.

D. Fx LEPLEY.

STOP MECHANISM FOR MINE HOISTS.

APPUCATIUN FILED DEC. 3. I914. 1 143, Patented Feb.13,1917.

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f Inventor D. F. LEPLEY.

STOP MECHANISM FOR MINE HO|STS.

APPLICATlON HLED 050.3,1914.

Patent-mi Feb. 13, 191?,

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3- Attorneys D. F. LEPLEY. STOP MECHANISM FOR MINEHOISTS. APPLICATION FILED 050. a, 1914.

1 6 14230 Patented Feb. 13,1917.

[Q] 4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

. I n ven tor f4 by Attorneys;

lt tifll llld l l d DANIEL F. LEELEY, F CONNELLSVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA.

STOP MECHANISM FOR MINE-I-IOISTS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, DANIEL F. LnrLnY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Connellsville, in the county of Fayette and State ofPennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Stop lt iechanism forllL'ineHoists, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to stop mechanisms for mine hoists.

Heretoiore numerous accidents have occurred because the hoist engineerhas overlooked the fact that the ascending cage contains miners and,consequently, the cage has been elevated above the ground level and intothe rigging above the mine with disastrous results.

time of the objects of the present invention is to provide meansoperated by a person at the bottom of the shaft prior to the ascent ofthe cage, whereby the hoisting mechanism is set so as to prevent theelevation of the cage above the ground level.

The mechanism constituting this supplemental stop is more especiallydesigned as an improvement upon the hoisting mechanism covered by myco-pending application filed September 28, 1914, Serial No. 863,972.

ld ith the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear-as thedescription proceeds, the invention resides in the com hination andarrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter dc;-

scribed and claimed, it being understood that changes in the preciseembodiment of the invention herein disclosed, can be made within thescope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention hasbeen shown.

In said drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of a mine hoisting machinewith the present improvements combined therewith.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view partly in side elevation and partly insection of the attachment constituting the present invention, saidattachment being shown in its set position.

3 is a similar view showing the parts when released.

Fig. 4; is a erspective view of the shift able stop and its supportinglever.

Specification of Letters Patent. ZPatygnfggfl Feb, 13, 1231?],Application filed December 3, 1914.

Serial in. 375,353.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the structure shown in Fig. 2.

- Fig. 6 is an end elevation of the mechanism.

l ig. 7 is a side elevation of a portion of the lever shitting rod andadjacent parts.

Fig. 8 is an end elevation of the rod shown in 7, the supplemental stopbeing indicated by dotted lines.

deferring to the figures by characters of reference 1 designates a shafton which is mounted a winding drum 2 provided with a suitable brakeindicated generally at 3 and which brake can be operated by anysuitablemechanism provided for that purpose, preterably mechanism such as shownin my copending application hereinbefore mentioned.

A chain t is actuated by the rotation of shaft- 1 and transmits motionthrough a sprocket 5 to a shaft 6 on which is secured a gear 7, thisgear meshing with a gear 8 on the shaft 9 of which is secured a smallergear 10. This gear meshes with a rack 11 to which rods 12 are pivotallyconnected, and on the rods are :urranged opposed cushioning springs 13and 14 hearing against adjustable collars 15 mounted on the rod.

A transverse shaft 16 is mounted above the rod 12 and has a lever 17extending therefrom provided. at its lower end, with a downwardlytapering cyeiS. An arm 19 also extends from the shaft and is connectedby a rod 20 to the brake controlling mechanism which is not shown indetail in the present case and constitutes no part of the presentinvention. Another lever 21 is mounted to swing on the shai't 1G and hasa downwardly tapering eye similar to the eye 18, this lever beingconnected to a sleeve 22 from which depends an arm having a rod 24-similar to rod 20 and which is connected to suitable mechanism forcontrolling the hoisting engine, this mechanism not being shown indetail in the present case inasmuch as it constitutes no part of thepresent invention.

Extending into the tapering eyes at the lower ends of the levers 17 and21 are trunnions extending inwardly from a forked lever 25 which isfulcrumed as at 26, and is pivotally connected. as at 2? to a rod 28slidably mounted in a post 29. A weighted stud .l-lswiveled thereon andprovided with an eve 35 through which one of the rods 12 extends. thisour being interposed between the springs 13 and 14 on said rod.

All of the mechanism thus far described constitutes no part of thepresent invention, when considered by itself. but has been fullydescribed and claimed in my co-pending application herei'nbeforereferred to. It need only be stated that the parts of the mechanism areso proportioned that, duly ing the upward movement of the cage due tothe rotation of the winding drum 2, motion is transmitted to the gear 10and the rack 11 is shifted longitudinally so as to actuate the rods 12and cause them to move slowly until one or the other of springs 13 and14 comes against the eye whereupon said eye is shifted and the leveronwliicli, the eye is mounted is shifted gradually to its neutral,position. When lever 17 is shifted to its intermediate or neutralposition in this manner, it applies the brake 3 and, when lever 21 isshifted to its intermediate or neutral position. it stops the engineused for operating the drum 2. Under ordinary conditions, this shiftingof the levers 17 and 21 is designed to take place when the cage reachesthe upper limit of its movement. The present invention is designedprimarily to bring the cage to a stop before it reaches said upper limitand. instead, as soon as it reaches the ground level so that if the cagecontains passengers, there will be no danger of their being carriedupwardly to the superstrncture. sult may be attained. a wedging elementor stop is used in connection with each of the rods 12 so as to reducethe distance the rod springs is brought into play and the lever isshifted and. consequently so as to result in the shifting of the levers17 and 21 and the consequent application of the brake and stoppage ofthe engine before the cage reaches its uppermost position or, in otherwords; when the rage reaches the ground level. A forked lever 36 isfulcrumcd on a bracket 37 and has a weight 38 to facili tate itsdownward movement. Secured to each member 39 of the fork of said leveris a. hanger 40 which increases in width toward its lower end and isprovided with an integral loop 41, there being longitudinal In orderthat this re-' must travel before either of the notch 48 in a segment 49so as thus to hold the lever 45 against movement and support lever 46and the hangers 40 in elevated positions with the studs 34 in the lowerportions of the slots 42. Pawl 47 has an arm 50 movable therewith and,when said pawl is seated in the notch 48, this arm overhangs a liftingrod 51 which is pivotally connected, at 5:2, to a bell crank lever 58and to a foot lever 54. A foot plate 55 is extended upwardly from end ofthe lever 45 while one arm of the bell crank lever 53 has an actuatingcord 56 secured to it. This cord extends down to the bottom of the shaftwhere it can be actuated by a person adjacent thereto.

It will be apparent that when lever 45 is locked in its intermediateposition and the hangers 40 are thus supported in their elevatedpositions, the rods :12 are capable of maximum movement and,consequently, the levers 17 and 21 will not be shifted to their neutralpositions and the brake applied and-the engine stopped, until the cageoperated by the hoisting mechanism has reached the uppermost limit ofits movement. If, however, passengers are to be raised by means of'themechanism and are to be landed at the'ground level, one of the personsat the bottom of the'shaft pulls upon the cord 56 and thus causes thebell crank lever to push upwardly upon the rod 51. This rod will liftthe pawl 47 out of notch 48 and the weight 38 on lever 36 will causesaid lever 36 to swing downwardly, pulling through rod 48, upon levertermediate position. When lever 36 moves downwardly under the action ofweight 38,

the hangers 40 also move downwardly until the upper ends of the loops 41are brought upon or close to the rods 12, thus holding thebroadestportions of the hangers be tween the two springs 13 and 14 on e ch rod.Consequently, less movement of fire rods 12 will be necessary to bringthe springs 13 or 14 into active positions and, by the time theascending cage has reached the ground level, one of the springs on eachrod will have engaged the hanger 40 in the path thereof and,consequently, the two levers 17 and 21 will have been shifted to theirneutral positions.

The manner in which the action of the levers 17 and 21 and the partscontrolled thereby is advanced, can be readily seen by comparing Figs. 2and 3. In Fig. 2, it is shown that when the hangers 40 are ele voted.and the springs 13 are in one position, the levers 17 and 21 are onlypartly shifted toward their neutral positions. In Fig. 3., however, itwill be seen that, when the hangers all) are in their lowermostpositions, the springs 13. even though in the same positions shown inFig. 2, have moved sntlicient distances to bring the levers 17 and 21 totheir neutral positions.

lYhat is claimed is: I

'1. The combination with drums for wind ing'cage supporting cables, a.lever, and means operated by the lever for bringing the drums to a stop,of means operating in 15' t'inngd .relation with the drums for shiftingthe lover autonnitieally to active or drum stoppin; position when a cageapproaches a predetermined limit of its movement, and means under thecontrol of a person at a low level of the rage, and independent of theoperator, "for instantly advancing the actuation of the lever intoposition to slow down and stop the drum ahead of the normal automaticmovement of the lever by said first mentioned means.

2. The combination with a drum for winding a supporting cable, drumrotating means, a lever, and means operated by the lever for stoppingthe drnm'rotating means, of means operating in timed relation with thedrum for shifting the lever automatically to stop the drum when the.cage approaches av predetermined limit of its movement, and means underthe control of a person at a low level of the cage, said means beingindependent of the operator, for instantly advancing the actuation ofsaid lever into position to slow down and stop the drum ahead of thenormal automatic movement of the lever by the lever shifting means.

3. The combination with a drum for winding a cage supporting cable, drumrotating means, a lever, and means operated by the lever to stop thedrum rotating means, of means operating in timed relation with the drumfor shifting the lever to stop the drum when the cage approaches a predctermined limit of its movement, a member movably connected to the lever,means for supporting said member in inactive position, and meansactuated by a person at a lower level of the age and independently ofthe operator, for relcasii'ig said member thereby to instantly advancethe actuation of? the lever into position to slow downand stop the drumthrough the action of the lever shifting means.

4. The combination with a drum for winding a cage supporting cable, drumrotating means, a lever, and means operated by the lever for stoppingthe drum rotatingmeans, of means operating in timed relation with thedrum for shifting the lever to stop the drum when the cage approaches :1predctenmined limit OYE its movement, a member slidably connected to thelever, means for locking said member in elevated position, meansoperated from a point remote from the lever and independently of theoperator for releasing said member, and means for shifting the releasedmember to position to instantly advance the actuation of the lever intodrum stopping position ahead of the normal movement of the lever by itsshifting means.

5. The combination with a drum for winding a cage supporting cable, alever, and means operated by the lever for stopping the rotation of saiddrum when the cage reaches a predetermined position, of a rack, speedreducing means operating with the drum for actuating the rack, meansoperated by the rack for gradually shifting the lever to position tostop the drum during tie movement of the cage to a limit of itsmovement, a member movably mounted adjacent the lever, means for dockingsaid member in one position, and means operated at a point remote fromthe lever for releasing said member to position the member upon the rackactuated means, thereby to advance-the actuation of the lever by saidmeans. 1

t). The combination with a drum for winding'a cage supporting cable, alever, and means operated by the lever for stepping the rotation of thedrum, of a rod slidably engaging the lever, speed reducing meansoperating in timed relation with the drum for shifting the rod, meansupon the rod for engaging and actuating the lever to stop the drum, amember movably connected to the lever, means for locking said memher ininactive position, and means operated at a point remote from the leverfor releasing said member to advance the actuation of said lever by saidmeans upon the rod.

7, The combination with a drum for winding a cage supporting cable, alever, and means operated by the lever for stopping the rotation ot'thedrum, of a rod slidably' engaging the lever, speed reducing meansoperating with the drum for actuating the rod, spaced leverengagingmeans upon the rod, a member slidably mounted relative to thelever, means for locking said member in inactive position, meansoperated at a point remote from the lever for releasing said member, andmeans for shifting the released member into position between said meanson the rod, thereby to advance the actuation ot' the lever by the rod.

8. l he combination with a drum for winding a cage supporting cable, alever, and means operated by the lever for stopping the rotation of thedrum, of a rod, meansoperated in timed relation with the drum foractuating the rod, spaced means upon the rod for engaging the lever toshift said lever and stop the drum when the cage reaches a predeterminedposition, a mem ber slidably mounted relative to the lever, :1 leverconnected thereto, a segment, :1 pawl 5 engaging the segment, means heldby the pawl for supporting the lever and member in inactive position, apawl shifting element, flexible means for actuating said element torelease the pawl and member, and means for w shifting the releasedmember into position upon the lever engaging means on the rod, therebyto advance the actuation of the lever by the rod.

In testimony thzit I claim the foregoing as my own, I have heretoaflixed my signature 1 in the presence of two Witnesses.

DANIEL F. LEPLEY. lVitnesses EDITH HARRIS, A. S. MATTHEWS.

